Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters besides Rage. Thank you Trhodes9 for helping me develop Rage's character more and helping me to write his Cherokee culture accurately. Thank you so much T!

Chapter 8

Behind the Mask

This Chapter Contains Fluff and Some Angst

Steph POV:

Carlos and I sat down in front of the ordinate desk. The man in the chair smiled at us. "You two make a lovely picture." He said. I smiled.

"Thank you Alexander." I said. Alexander Ramos was a gun smuggler but he was a good man. He had a moral code similar to mine and Carlos's.

Rage stood behind Carlos and I as a sentry. "Alexander I called you while Ranger was in the hospital, looking for information you had or could collect on Joe Morelli." I said.

Carlos shot me a look. Fuck, I hadn't told him I had called Alexander. They were on semi good terms after the Homer Ramos incident. After Carlos had gotten out of the hospital I hadn't thought to mention the fact I had called a few people I knew.

"Yes, you did. I wanted to get more info so I talked to the heads of some of the other families. We compiled all of the information." He said. I nodded. He held out a file to me but before giving it to me locked eyes with me.

"This is eyes only. This does not get seen by the police." He said. I nodded.

"I understand Alexander." I said.

He nodded and gave it to me. I opened it and my body went rigid. Pictures of Morelli some of him with known drug dealers swapping money for drugs. Paying prostitutes and then fucking them against a wall. Him climbing out the window of Terry Gilman's house. I couldn't believe this. All of them were time stamped. Most of these had been taken while we were together during on stages. I took a deep breath. I had always known mine and Morelli's relationship had always been screwed up but I never realized how much.

Then pictures from inside his house. Behind his hot water heater in his basement a stash of guns behind a fake wall, along with bricks of cocaine and stacks of money. I closed the file and passed it to Carlos.

Once he was done flipping through it he closed it. "Thank you Alexander." He said.

"I would do anything for Stephanie." Ramos said. I smiled at him.

"Alexander your going to make my husband jealous." I said. Carlos took my hand and kissed the back of it. Ramos shook his head.

"Your a lucky man Ranger." He said. Carlos smiled at him.

"I know." He said. We stood.

"Thank you for the information Alexander." I said. He hugged me and shook Carlos's hand. Rage followed us out and slid into the back seat of my Rangerover as Carlos got into the drivers and I got into the passengers.

Silence hung in the air, with unsaid words. Carlos broke it. "You called Ramos." He said.

"I did." I said.

"Who else did you call?"

"Well if you don't like me calling Ramos do you really want to know?" I asked him seriously.

"I don't really have a choice. I need to know who's all involved now Steph." He said. I nodded.

"Ramos, Harry the Hammer, and Vito Grizzoli. And I'm sure they involved some of their connections." I said.

He looked at me and then back at the road. I glanced back at Rage for help but he shook his head. I sighed softly. "Carlos, don't be upset. I wanted to help any way I could. I'm not going to apologize for it. You can be mad if you want but I will not apologize for trying to help the man I love." I said.

We were silent the rest of the way back to Rangeman. Carlos took the stairs up after a glance at me, taking the file with him. "He needs time alone." Rage said touching my arm. I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Do you have time to do another knife throwing session? I feel like I've progressed but I'm having trouble transitioning to different knife weights."

"Yes, I have time. Let's go to the range." He said. I followed him and he opened the door and turned on the lights. He set up the targets and walked back to me.

He pulled a knife from the sheath on his hip. The sheath was leather with a intricate pattern of bright colored beads. He handed me the knife. The handle appeared to be made of bone or antler. I knew this was a knife that he had for a while, something from his culture, knowing Rage was Cherokee. There were things I knew he kept because they reminded him of his home, his family.

He nodded and motioned for me to step up. "Watch." He said. I nodded. I watched as he shifted his body and the knife went sailing. I watched as it stuck into the target. He walked forward and pulled it out before bringing it back to me.

"You try." He said. I nodded and stepped into the same position he had been standing in.

"Breathe." He said. "Release on exhale."

I nodded again. He stood next to me and watched me. I took a deep breath. I threw the knife with a good amount of force behind it. It stuck in the outer ring of the target, not the bullseye Rage had gotten but I still hit the target.

I turned to grin at him. "Did you see that?" I asked exited.

He smiled slightly and nodded. "I did." He said. "Very good. We work though."

I watched as he went to retrieve the knife. His braid swinging slightly as he walked. He wore a single long braid. "Rage can I asked you something?"

He nodded.

"Why do you wear your hair in a braid?"

"Tradition in my culture." He said. "A single braid make it easier to manage hair."

I nodded. It made sense. "Can I ask you another question?"

He nodded with a raised eyebrow. "Why did you join the Army?"

He was silent for a minute. "I got in trouble with law off of tribal property. A few of my friends and I did. We travel to a neighboring town and other teenagers that started a fight with us. Since we were outside tribal territory we didn't go to tribal court. Instead we went to county court. Choices was jail time or army. Out of five I was only one to pick Army."

"How did your family feel about that?" I asked softly.

He looked at me, studying me for a moment. "They're mad. We don't talk too much anymore. The folks aren't happy that I stayed in even after my tour, then came here to Rangeman. They feel it dishonors our elders to support the Army because the Army took our land and caused us so many tears. They think Rangeman is just more of the Army, and want me to come back to reservation. That's not where I'm at anymore."

"I'm sorry." I said softly. He nodded.

"I am at peace with it." He said. He paused. "Now...Practice!" I giggled a little at his expense.

Almost an hour later I felt a tingle at the base of my neck as I release my knife. It was about an inch from the center. I turned to look at Carlos.

"Ranger." Rage said. He nodded to him.

"I'd like to speak to Steph." He said.

Rage looked at me. "Bomber do you want to talk to Ranger?" He asked. I smiled.

One thing I loved about Rage was that he actually treated me like a partner. He wanted to make sure I was okay with the situation. I nodded.

"It's fine Rage." I said. "Thank you for teaching me to throw knives."

"It was my pleasure." He said. He walked from the room after giving Carlos a look. Carlos shook his head and used his fob to scramble the cameras.

"I'm sorry." Carlos said. I felt both my eyebrows raise.

"Yeah you heard it right babe. I'm sorry. I was an ass. I know it wasn't right but what you did was risky as hell and freaked me the fuck out." He ran a hand through his hair. "I know it sounds stupid but I never expected for my wife to have mob connections."

I laughed softly and wrapped my arms around his neck. I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. He took over and claimed my mouth with his. His hands on my hips pulling me tighter to him.

"I love you babe."

"I love you too Carlos." I said. He nuzzled my neck before sighing.

"A bail bonds men from Jersey city bailed out Morelli."

I pulled back and looked at him. "Are you serious?" I asked. He nodded.

"He's is under house arrest at his mother's. Cops sitting in front and behind the house along with a ankle monitor."

"This is bullshit." I said. He nodded. I laid my head against his chest, listening to the steady heart beat of his chest.

"Carlos how can we start a family if Morelli is out there?" I asked softly. He tensed.

"Do you want to stop trying to make a family babe? I told you we didn't have to do it now."

"Carlos stop." I said. "I want a baby... My mind has been wandering. What would happen if Joe did manage to hurt me? What would it do to the baby? What if..."

He kissed me. "We'll deal with it all babe."

I nodded. "Let's go upstairs." I said. He nodded.

"Early dinner and a movie. We deserve time off." He said. I laughed.

"Two years ago you would have never said those words."

He grinned and took my hand. We took the elevator up and to the apartment. I went to change as Carlos asked Ella to bring up dinner early. I came back out as he was going into the closet. He kissed me softly in passing before continuing on. I waited for him to come back out. When he emerged he was wearing a blue t-shirt and a pair of sweats.

"Let's sit down and look at these pictures."

I nodded and we settled at the table and opened the file. There were pictures of Morelli with prostitutes on Stark street, dealers buying cocaine, there was pictures of him doing cocaine with dealers and prostitutes. Pictures of him being paid off by some of the same dealers. Pictures of him in Terry Gilman's house, fucking her against the wall, sleeping in her bed, sneaking out. "What did I ever see in him Carlos?"

"He was a safety net for you babe. Something comfortable that you could always fall back on. Especially since you didn't think I was available."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Hahaha." I said.

"Where should we start babe?"

"I think we should start running these faces through facial recognition and then run searches. I know he's already in jail with some pretty damning evidence but if the prosecutor had more we could worry less." I said. Carlos nodded.

"Since he's already in jail how about tonight we relax and tommorow we bring the guys in and get the ball rolling?"

"We still need to investigate more into our mole."

"I know babe. Tank and Lester have started to narrow it down. We've hire 6 more full times in the past year and 12 contractors. We're thinking it has to be a full time worker and not a contract but we don't know yet." He said. He ran a hand along my side. "No more work tonight babe."

I smiled and straddled him. "I've never known you to put off work Mr. Manoso."

Carlos smiled. "Well since this case is basically solved and I have more pressing matters to attend to this can take a backburner." He said.

"What are these more pressing manners?" I asked.

"My wife's pleasure." He said. He stood and planted my ass on the table. I squealed as he nuzzled my neck, his stubble tickling me. He pulled me tight to his body and I moaned feeling his bulge pressing against me. He lowered his lips to mine claiming my mouth in a hard kiss. His tongue dueling with mine. His hands roamed over my body squeezing my hips and running them down my thighs. He ran his fingers lightly along the inside of my thigh close to my center.

Just as his hands slid under my shirt there was a knock on the door. I groaned and Carlos chuckled. After another quick kiss he put me in the chair. He took the tray from Ella after thanking her. He brought it into the dinning room. He uncovered our food as I went to the get the silverware. When I came back to the table Carlos pulled my chair out for me. I smiled at him and he kissed the top of my head.

We ate in companionable silence. Carlos's hand on my thigh, his thumb over the skin of my thigh. We eventually migrated over to the couch to cuddle after dinner. Carlos's brow was furrowed. He had lines around his eyes and mouth. His hand resting on my stomach between us. I stroked my fingers over his cheek. "What're you thinking about?"

"Do you think we're pregnant babe?"

I looked up at him. "I don't know Carlos. It's only been a few weeks."

"Your last period was the week before I was release for duty." He said. I nodded. "It's been almost five weeks since then."

I looked up at him. "Yeah, now that I think about it." I said. "I'm only a couple days late Carlos. Let's give it a few more days."

"I would prefer if you took one sooner rather than later." He said. I shook my head.

"Alright." I said softly. He took my hand and kissed the back of it.

"Why are you so hesitant babe?" He asked. "I thought you wanted this."

"I do." I said and sighed. "I'm scared that it's not going to happen."

"Babe, It'll happen in time." He said. I nodded.

"Alright we'll have to go pick up a test."

Carlos's face turned slightly red. "There are some under the sink." He said.

"And how did they get there?" I asked him. He looked at me and blushed again. I kissed him.

"Thank you."

I stood and walked to our bathroom. He followed me and stood in the doorway. "Carlos." I said.

"I'm not missing anything." He said. I shook my head. I set the test on the counter and walked over to Carlos who wrapped me in his arms. "How long do we have to wait?"

"Three minutes." I muttered into his chest. The minutes ticked by like hours.

"You ready babe?" He asked. I nodded and I walked over to pick up the test.

"What does it say?" He asked. I looked up into his chocolate brown eyes.

Joe POV: (Before being released)

I groaned as I laid on the bed in the infirmary shifting trying to get comfortable. There were two guards watching me standing near the door. The doctor walked in. "You have bruised kidneys', three broken ribs, a broke nose, fractured cheek bone and heavy bruising in a few places. You'll be pissing blood for a couple days."

"Can you give me anything for the pain?"

"Tylenol." He said. "Every eight hours."

I groaned and he brought me the pills and then made sure I took them. The guards escorted me to solitary confinement and locked me in. I was maybe in the cell for an hour when I started to hear him.

"Joey? Joey are you in here?" A heavily accented Latino voice said.

"What the hell?" I asked standing with a wince.

"Joey." The voice said. "Or should I call you cupcake?"

"Are you like a cupcake Joey? Do you taste sweet are you good to eat?"

"I don't know who the fuck you are but you better leave me alone." I growled. There was no way anyone could get into the cell with me, was there?

"Come on Cupcake. Don't you want to have some fun?"

"Fuck off." I growled.

"Don't be like that Cupcake. I've heard allot of things about you. I want a taste." He said. I heard the steel door raddle and I jumped. I heard heavy breathing and then nothing. My heart was thundering, it was going to beat out of my chest. Fucking Stephanie, this was all her fault. I wouldn't be here if she wasn't so stupid.

I heard the heavy breathing again. "Guard!" I yelled.

There was laughter from multiple sources. "Guards are going to help you Cupcake." The same voice said.

XXXXXX

An ankle monitor was locked onto my ankle in the captain's office. I was to be escorted by 12 uniforms to my mothers and then four would be standing guard working shifts. I was shoved into the car, my head banged against the side. I growled but Big Dog grinned at me. "Your in my car and your not wearing blue anymore Morelli. Your on the other side of the law now." He said before slamming the door.

I was escorted inside of my mother's house after they had searched it. "You can go with in six feet of the front and back door. That's it. Any farther and we're releasing the hounds on you Morelli." Eddie said. "And trust me we're all itching to go after you.

I sat on the bed in my childhood bedroom. I put my head in my hands after everyone left. I knew I needed to get rid of Manoso. Once that was done I knew I could get Cupcake back. She would have to pay for everything she has done but she would learn to be the perfect wife. Just like her mother. Speaking of I wondered if I could get my mother to invite Helen over for dinner.

Don't hate me for the cliff hanger. We'll find out in the next chapter.

This is an incredibly short chapter, sorry RL got in the way along with my muse. She's just not wanting to cooperate and come up with storyline for this story.

I'll be publishing the first chapter of the sequel story really soon. Within the next day or two.

Joe is getting what he deserves.

Let me know what you think in the reviews.